


Honesty is the Best Medicine

by emzyyy



Category: GameHouse Original Stories (Video Games), Heart's Medicine Series (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Divergent, F/M, Fix-it fic, mcheart style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-05 02:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emzyyy/pseuds/emzyyy
Summary: In which Ruth takes matters into her own hands after she hears about Allison and Connor's breakup.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I loved Hospital Heat, it just about drove my little McHeart-shipping heart right into the ground, and I needed to cope. This was the result.

" _Connor._  For once in your life, you're going to listen to me, and I'm only saying all of this once, and if you repeat  _any_ of this to anyone else, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

In all his time working at Little Creek, Connor knew exactly two things about Ruth Phelps.  One: she was ludicrously smart.  Not just in her field, but in all of medicine.  And two: she had a habit of just bursting in whenever she felt like it.  Not that he was exceptionally different, particularly when his temper got the best of him, but something about Ruth, with her short stature and her wizened old eyes glaring at him over her glasses, seemed far more intimidating.  (And if she ever found out he just described her as having "wizened old eyes," he would definitely catch her hand over the back of his head.)

"Uh...can I help you?" he muttered, not the slightest clue what she was so worked up over this time.

"That whole fiasco in the broom closet wasn't what you think."

Connor's jaw clicked into place.   _Oh, God._ Not this.  Anything but this.  He had just gotten to the point where he wasn't constantly thinking about catching the two of them together.  Just stopped memorizing the way his stomach dropped along with that other shoe that had been dangerously dangling ever since he and Allison first properly got together.  He brushed past her to grab his clipboard off the desk.  "I don't have time for this.  I have patients to--"

" _Five minutes,_ " Ruth snapped again, stepping right in his path and poking him in the chest.  "That's all I'm asking."

He was about to snap right back at her that time didn't have anything to do with it.  But quickly realized that butting heads with Ruth wouldn't make her leave any faster.  So he just gave her a single nod, crossing his arms over his chest.  She huffed in reply.

"Allison wasn't cheating on you."

"Really."

"It's the truth!  She would never cheat on you!  She's not that kind of girl!"

" _Anybody_ can be that kind of girl with the right motivation."  He didn't really believe that, but it sounded good.

"The only reason she and Daniel have been sneaking around is because..."  Ruth gnawed on her lip, eyes darting around the room.  Then her voice lowered to a near whisper, but still just as stern.  "Is because Allison is trying to keep him from getting fired."

He narrowed his eyes at her.  "What are you talking about?"

"Back when John stepped down and Daniel took his place...a significant amount of amphetamines went missing from the pharmacy.  He was having trouble coping with the stress."

Connor blinked hard, slowly putting two and two together.  " _Daniel?_ "

"Trust me, we were both shocked when we found out."

He pinched the bridge of his nose.  His boss was an addict.  This just kept getting better and better.  Well, that would explain his extended "vacation" a little over a month ago.  Kind of.

"So...why is she even trying to help him?  She didn't steal the drugs  _for_ him, did she?"

Ruth made a face to the ceiling and once again scanned the office just in case anybody was hiding behind the fern in the corner or something.  "No, she didn't.  And really, it  _is_ his problem to deal with.  But you know how Alli is - she won't turn away  _anyone_ who needs her help, patient or otherwise.  And with Victor coming around and pulling all these files...well, they've been having to think on their feet."

"She still kissed him  _twice,_ Ruth."

"She didn't kiss him that day he came back from his little paradise trip!  That was  _all_ him."

Connor raised his eyebrow half an inch at Ruth's matter-of-factness.  Then again, she and Allison were practically attached at the hip.  If anybody would know all of the intimate, gory details about the situation, it would be her.

"And the broom closet...I'll admit, not her smartest move.  But just because the girl can perform highly invasive surgery by herself doesn't mean that she's great at improvising.  Heck, I wouldn't expect  _anybody_ to be, after the weeks we've had dealing with Victor."

His nails clawed at the nape of his neck while he sucked in a breath.  None of this really made any more sense than what his mind had been wrestling with the past couple of days.  And it still didn't change the fact that Allison  _had_ kissed Daniel, as he just loved to keep reminding himself for some masochistic reason.  And something else was nagging at him as well...

"If I remember correctly, you were trying to get Allison and Daniel together once upon a time."

Ruth closed her eyes.  Rolled her mouth for a moment.  Connor thought he could see steam trailing out of her ears.

"I did.  But then I saw how the two of you were together.  And I realized Daniel could never make her that happy."

Then she turned on her heel and left.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days passed quickly.  A nine year old girl came in for an appendectomy, which graciously occupied Connor's thoughts for a majority of that time.  Once she was reduced to bedrest, however, he found himself intentionally walking past Allison's office more than usual.  Or whatever "usual" became after they split up.

Now he stood right in front of her door, pacing like an idiot.  Nurses passed him with curious eyes and pretended not to notice.  Their relationship hadn't exactly been a secret (if kissing in front of the entire office party was anything to go by), so he knew the news about their breakup must have spread like wildfire.

This was a stupid idea.  Why was he even here?  What would he even say to her?  He should just turn around and head back to pediatrics and try to get some work done, but the door opened before he got the chance.

"Connor."

And there she was.  He had been avoiding her like the plague for days, and he wanted to kick himself for how much he had missed her blue eyes.  They cemented his shoes to the floor.  He couldn't run away if he tried.

He saw the edge of another white coat behind her door and, fist curling, his mind immediately assumed it was Daniel.  But then he smelled the tea.

"I'll just let you two have your privacy then," Chance hummed, slipping past Allison like a cat.  If he noticed the tension in the air, he made no indication of it.  Just his usual calm, far too polite self.

"Oh, Chance, you don't--"

"It's perfectly all right, Allison.  I'll see you around."  And he was gone before any of them could say another word.  Then it was just the two of them.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

Well, things were going about as well as he expected.

He took another deep breath and realized she was still holding her cup of tea.  In that moment, he would have given anything to go back to that day they were both working in physical therapy.  He made them both a cup of Chance's fancy herbal tea and they just sat and talked for what seemed like hours.  And everything was okay.

"Look, uh..."  He scratched at the base of his scalp.  "Ruth came and talked to me.  About some things."

Allison shifted just slightly.  Something he wouldn't have noticed a year ago.

"What kind of things?"

His arm dropped.  "Everything.  About Daniel.  And...the drugs."

Her hand tightened around the teacup.  She stepped aside and motioned for him to come in, shutting the door behind him and locking it when she did so.

"I know you don't like him, but please...don't tell anyone.  It wouldn't just hurt him; it would hurt the whole hospital."

He crossed his arms.  "Don't worry.  Ruth's already threatened me.  Your secret's safe."

Allison nodded.  Sat on the very edge of her desk.  Drank the last of her tea while staring at the floor.  After a few moments, Connor sat on the desk with her, but kept a safe distance.  She looked like a mannequin, just going through the motions, except for her right foot continuously rolling around under her ankle.  She would rather be anywhere but here.  He wanted to put his arms around her, but kept them clamped tight against his chest.

"So...hard to believe Daniel 'Golden Child' Summers is an addict."

" _Ex-addict,_ " she grunted at him, still staring at the floor.  "I helped Daniel get sober after we found out about the amphetamines.  And he gave me a lot of advice on Mr. Asher's condition.  We...we were close.  But it's over now.  I promise."

He wanted to believe her.  He wanted to believe her so bad.  But he knew nothing they could say to each other would magically make it so the whole "broom closet fiasco" (as Ruth had called it) never happened.  And he knew Allison knew that, too.

"You could have told me."

"You think I didn't hate lying to you?  But Ruth and I didn't want to drag anybody else into this mess.  And everything with my mom and Ryan on top of that..."  Her voice broke off and her eyes screwed shut.

Connor stilled.  He had almost completely forgotten about her mother.  About the impending kidney transplant.  He didn't even know if she had made up her mind to go through with it yet.

She swiped the pad of her thumb underneath her eye.  "Besides...I knew how it would look, and i didn't want you to get jealous."

"Alli, you've got to understand, I'm not usually the jealous type.  But with you..."  It was different.  It was always different with her.  She was the outlier.  He had fooled around with a lot of girls in his time, but none of them ever had this kind of effect on him; where he went out of his way to make sure things ran smoothly as possible, to make things last.  He blamed everything on that day back when she was working in pediatrics for the first time, after they had uncovered the truth about Libby's illness.  After she had run down the hall in tears and he had chased after her.  He already knew he liked her, and he already knew she was beautiful, but when she looked up at him with those same eyes - not painfully blue, but blue enough to soften his insides - and kissed him out of nowhere, that's when he knew this girl was going to mess him up big time.  When he had told her he wasn't going anywhere, he meant it.

Of course, he didn't actually say any of that out loud.  He just thought about it really hard and hoped she could see it written on his face.  Allison didn't say anything, but she nibbled on her lip.

"See, if you were any other girl, I'd kiss you right here, right now.  But I won't.  Because I know if I do, I'll regret it."  He swallowed.  "You deserve a guy who treats you right.  And I really wish I was that guy.  But even if I'm not--"

Allison touched his arm.

"You  _are._ "

He wanted to fix this.  He wanted to fix this so bad.

His arm found its way around her shoulders and she tucked herself under his chin.  They were quiet for a long time; just sat together and watched her fish swim around in their tank, listening to each other breathe.  Then they talked about work.  He told her about the appendectomy girl and she told him about the lab work Ruth had her do.  They talked about the wrestling play the kids had put on.  They talked about Ryan.  It almost felt normal.

He glanced at his watch and realized he needed to get back.  Both of them were painfully slow to the door, and even there they lingered.

"Tell you what...let's give each other a few days and...we'll go from there."

"Well, I'm...going through with the transplant.  So I'll have more than a few days."

"That sounds good."

"I'm only doing it for Ryan."

"That sounds good, too."

"Would...would it be completely out of line if I told you that I love you?"

"No."


End file.
